Wishful Thinking
by meg127
Summary: It's Hope's first day of high school and between getting hit with a sock, his insane teacher, and gym class he's going to need a little, ok a lot, of help from he's friends to make it through. Things will get better though, right? Right? Please R&R!
1. Welcome to Gran High

Disclaimer: While the story is mine, the characters are not.

**This story may contain minor spoilers! **

"Hope!" Nora called as she stormed into her son's room. She tripped over something or other and landed on her son's feet, who woke with a start.

"What the? Mom!" Hope yelled as he rolled over and put his head underneath his pillow. Nora stood and picked up the closet thing in reach, a sock, and started hitting Hope with it.

"Get up! You're going to be late."

"Five more minutes."

"No! The bus will be here any minute and you _won't _be late for your first day of high school!" She grabbed her son's legs and pulled him out of bed. His face landed on the carpet and he struggled to get up. "I made you breakfast and packed your lunch. Come on."

Hope gave a huge yawn as his reply. His mother rolled his eyes and left the room. He stumbled to the closet and got dressed before going downstairs. The smell of bacon hit him before he even had a chance to enter the kitchen. "There's eggs, bacon, and toast." she said happily. Hope grabbed a piece of toast and stuck it in his mouth before grabbing his book bag. "Oh come on, you need to eat more."

Right at that moment the bus pulled up. "Got to go!" Hope said as he ran out the door.

"Have fun!" his mother called after him.

Hope boarded the bus and saw that it was already full. He sighed and walked down the aisle trying to find a place to sit. Everyone stared at him. Being the new kid was the worst. Being a new kid _and_ a freshman was even worse. He spotted a seat toward the back with only one person in it. She was older, a senior most likely, and sat with her legs and arms crossed staring at the ground. She had a scowl on her face. Hope wasn't surprised no one was sitting with her. He really didn't want to either, but he didn't have much of a choice. He went up to her and asked if he could sit with her. She looked up, her bangs covered one of her eyes. Her long light pink hair completely contradicted her athletic appearance. The senior stared at him for a moment then without a word moved over, making room for him. Hope smiled shyly, maybe she wasn't that bad after all. As he sat down he could feel the eyes of the other students watching him. He looked up at the girl; she was right back to her former position.

"Um…thanks." Hope said.

"Don't mention it." she answered flatly.

"Uh…I'm Hope by the way. Hope Estheim" he said nervously. He continued to look at her, waiting for a reply.

"Claire Farron," she finally said after several seconds of silence. "but most people call me Lightning."

_Lightning? _Hope thought. _Why would anyone want a name that has to with sky? That's so cliché. Well, I guess its better than Cloud… _He didn't dare say any of this out loud, though. He wasn't about to chase away someone he might be able to become friends with, or at least bus buddies. _Ah, hell! She probably doesn't want to share her seat with _me _everyday…_

The bus pulled up to the school and he stared at it out the window. He felt a light push on his arm and realized Claire, or Lightning, whatever, wanted to get out. He apologized and jumped up. He hopped off the bus and continued to stare at the huge building. It was so much bigger than his old school. He was going to get lost.

He was pushed into the building by the crowd and struggled to take out his schedule. It was mailed to him a couple of weeks ago along with a map of the school. His first class was in Room 101. British Literature. "Uh…"he tried to find the room on the map, but people kept knocking into him. He managed to fight his way over to the side of the hall with less people. He found the room on the map and traced the path with his finger. "Ok, so I go up here, right down there, up those steps, then a left, and wait _what_?"

"Do you need help?" someone said behind him. He turned and blushed.

"Uh…" he didn't want to seem to helpless. "No. I know where to go."

"No you don't." Lightning said and took his arm. He had a hard time keeping up with her fast pace. She lead him up a flight of stairs. There were much less people up there, giving Hope room to breathe. Lightning lead him down a few more hallways before stopping in front of a door. "Room 101 right?" she asked him.

"Uh…yeah." Hope answered after double checking his schedule. "Thanks."

Lightning rolled her eyes and opened the door. An ancient old man was sitting behind the desk up front. The room was extremely bland. No colorful posters with cheesy sayings or _anything. _Hope shuddered as he entered. The old crusty teacher watched him sit down at a desk and turned his attention back to Lightning. "Helping the helpless freshmen, Farron? How nice of you." She didn't answer. "Do you need a pass?"

Lightning shook her head. "I doubt Mr. Raines will care." she said before leaving. Hope wished she stayed. His teacher scared him. He felt a small poke in the back and turned around. The girl sitting behind him had the same light pink hair as Lightning. She was also wearing the same arm band on her right arm.

"Hi." She said happily. "I'm Serah, Claire's sister."

"Oh! Uhh…" Hope didn't know what to say.

"I don't think I've seen you before. Are you new?" she asked and Hope nodded. "What's your name?" He answered and she smiled. "If my sister's helping you out then you must be something!"

"What?" Hope didn't know what to say.

"How do I put this?" Serah started. "Claire's kind of a…"

"A bitch?" the girl sitting next to her finished for her.

"Vanille! Don't say that. She's not a bitch! She's…well ok yeah, she's a bitch."

"A crazy one, actually." the other girl laughed.

"She's nice to me…" Hope put in.

Serah looked back at him. "Well that's good! Oh, and by the way, this is my friend, Vanille." she motioned to the girl sitting next to her.

"Hi there! Nice to meet you." Her voice is very perky. _To perky…_Hope thought.

The bell rang to begin class. The teacher stood up and started speaking. "If you don't already know, I'm Mr. Dsyley. Take out a pencil for your test." The entire class groaned. "Shut up. You had plenty of time to complete your summer reading. Hope's heart skipped a beat. Summer reading? _What _summer reading?


	2. Teacher from Hell

Lightning walked down the hall toward her first period class. She was in no hurry. This is the forth year in a row she got Mr. Raines for science. Freshman year it was earth science, then biology, then chemistry, and now physics. She didn't even know it was possible to have a teaching license in so many subjects. She wouldn't mind so much if he wasn't such an incredibly boring teacher. Nothing he says is interesting at all and _everything _he says is in the most monotone voice she's every heard. Regardless of how bad he is he's a heck of a lot better than Mr. Dsyley.

Mr. Dsyley placed a packet in front of Hope. At the top it was labeled "Summer Reading Exam." Hope flipped through the packet. It was five pages long, double sided! Even worse the print was so small he could barely read it. His only hope was that he had read some of these books before. First question. "Who is the protagonist in _A Tale of Two Cities?" _Oh Shit.

Hope stole a glance to the girls behind him. Serah was bent over her paper writing while Vanille stretched her arms and kicked her legs. The other kids in the class looked dead. The only thing he could do is guess. Thank God its multiple choice. He looked at the answers for the first question. "A-Sydney Carton, B-Roger Daltrey, C- George Washington, or D-Andrew Ryan. "Uhhh…" Hope sighed. He was pretty sure it wasn't George Washington, but who were the other three? He guessed Roger Daltrey. The name sounded familiar after all. After that the questions got even harder. They were all about symbolism and motifs. _What the heck is a motif anyway? _

Before he knew it the class was over. His teacher ripped the test from his hands. He looked at the two girls again. Vanille seemed confident despite not appearing to have done anything all period. She got up and skipped out the door. Serah gave her test a hard look before handing it in. She then smiled at Hope. "How'd you do?"

"What was the answer to the first one?" Hope asked nervously. The smile vanished from Serah's face.

"You…you didn't read it, did you?"

"No?"

"You put A for the first one I hope!"

" No? I picked C."

"ROGER DALTREY! He's the lead singer of The Who!"

Hope smacked his forehead and Serah patted him on the pack. "Its alright, you only failed one test." Hope stared at her. "What? Mr. Dsyley always does that. He makes the first question really easy and if you get that wrong he marks the whole test wrong."

"WHAT!" Hope took a few deep breaths.

"Don't worry. It'll be alright." Serah reassured him.

His next few classes went a lot better. He teachers were very friendly and helped him along. It wasn't until lunch that Hope realized he didn't have anyone to sit with. What was starting to turn into a good day just got a lot worse. He scanned the tables to see if he could spot anyone he knew. Someone came up behind him and touched his shoulder. He jumped and saw that it was Lightning. "You don't have anyone to sit with do you?" she asked him. Hope blushed and shock his head. "You can sit with me." she said and led him over to her table. There were already two senior boys sitting there. One had silver hair pulled back into a ponytail. _He's probably gay…_Hope thought. The other had messy long brown hair. They sat down at the round table and Lightning made introductions. "Guys, this is Hope. He's new this year."

"Howdy!" the brown haired one said happily. "I'm Rygdea. This here is Yaag Rosch, but everyone calls him Rosch." The silver haired boy smiled slightly. Hope felt really awkward sitting with all seniors. It wasn't his place. Rygdea and Rosch were talking about stuff Hope couldn't follow while Lightning sat there silently eating her lunch. Hope started to look around to see if he could spot anyone else. Right as he started doing this Lightning started talking to him.

"So, Hope, how'd English go? He has Dsyley." she said to her friends. Both of them started laughing.

"Oh, man. Poor kid!" Rygdea smiled. "You fail the summer reading test?"

"I didn't even know there was summer reading!" Hope cried. The three of them smiled. "What?"

"It doesn't count." Rosch said "He always does not. The first test doesn't count, it's just to freak everyone out."

Hope gave a huge sigh of relief. Suddenly a loud group of friends walked by and they all turned to look. At the head of the group was a kid with blonde hair wearing a large trench coat. _He looks like a tool._ Hope thought. They were all laughing and pushing each other around. He noticed Lightning was glaring at the group's leader. "Oh, gees." Rosch sighed and turned to Hope. "His name is Snow. Lightning here wants him dead."

"I don't want him dead." Lightning sighed as she turned back to her friends. "I just want him to stay away from Serah. She's to good for him."

"Oh please! You don't think anyone's good enough for your sis." Rygdea started. "You'd probably hate Hope if he was dating her."

Hope paled and shrank into his seat. "Not so." Lightning replied, oblivious to Hope's reaction. "Hope's not an arrogant blowhard like Snow." she then turned to Hope. "He struts around high fiving random people. He thinks everyone's his pal. What he needs is to get over himself."

"You just don't like him because he's dating Serah." Rygdea laughed.

"I didn't like him before that either."

"You didn't _know _him before that."

"I knew who he _was." _Lightning countered. "I'm so glad I'll be gone next year. I don't need to see how he'll act when he's a senior."

Hope watched Snow with his friends. A teacher came by and yelled at them to shut up.


	3. Friendly Rivalry

Last period would have been more of a blessing if it wasn't gym class. Hope dragged himself to the locker room to change. The other boys in his class were all laughing at each other's jokes. Hope noticed that not only was he the only freshman, but he was also the smallest. _Oh great…_he thought. Some of the boys started cheering while others rolled their eyes. Hope got pushed out of the way as Snow came in and greeted his friends. Hope fell onto the bench and started changing as he glared at Snow.

The teacher came into the locker room and hurried the students out into the gym. They filed out onto the gym floor and that's when Hope realized it was a co-ed class. _Great, now I'm gonna look weak in front of girls to. _He heard someone calling his name and turned. Serah ran up to him. "Hey! You're in our gym class to? That's great." she smiled.

"What do you mean 'ours'?" Hope asked.

"Oh! Claire's over there." Serah pointed to her sister who was on the other side of the gym. "Claire!" she waved and her sister came over.

_Oh no oh no oh no! _Hope thought as his face turned bright red. The last thing he needed was to look weak in front of Lightning. "Uh…hi, Li-" Hope stopped and looked at Serah. He wasn't sure want he should call the older sister. He was saved by the teacher's whistle. "Alright, get going. Two minute warm up." The class started jogging around the gym.

Hope's prayers for a silent warm up were crushed when Lightning/Claire/Whatever asked, "So how was English?" Hope assumed this was directed at her sister.

Serah sighed and said, "You were right. Dysley is a crazy old man. Do all of his multiple choice tests have over twenty options? I wish he just gave out fill in the blank tests! I knew all the answers it just took so long to find the right one."

"That test we took doesn't count, right Lightning?" Hope put it.

Serah stared at him. "Oh no! She's got you calling her that to?"

"Uh…." Hope didn't know what to say. _Maybe I shouldn't have said anything. _

"Why do you have people call you that What's wrong with Claire?" Serah asked her sister.

"What's wrong with Lightning?" the older sister asked.

"It's silly!" Serah exclaimed. Judging by the two sisters' tones it sounded like they have had this conversation before. "I'm not the only one that thinks that. Mom and Dad think its silly to." Serah added. Hope never thought about it before, but he realized how weird it would be if the two sisters got their hair color from their dad.

Originally Serah was in the middle, but suddenly Lightning was right by Hope's side. "You're running pretty fast." she smiled slightly. Hope looked behind him and realized Serah was yelling at him to slow down.

"Oh." Hope slowed down. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize." Lightning smiled fully this time. "If you like running you should join the school's cross country team."

Hope blushed again. Serah caught up with them, panting. "Gees, Hope! This is a warm up." All that did is cause his face to turn even more red. The teacher blew the whistle again and told them to line up in their squads. They are in alphabetical order by last name so of course he was right in front of Serah and Lightning. The teacher came over and smiled at Hope.

"I saw you sprinting out there. Good job, uh…" he looked at his clipboard.

"Hope, Sir." he responded.

"Sir! Fast and polite, Farron, I have a new favorite." he said to Lightning who only looked confused. The teacher then turned his attention to the entire class. "Alright, listen while you stretch. For those of you that never had me before, I'm Mr. Katzroy. Now I'm gonna assign squad leaders to lead in stretching and whatever else I don't feel like doing. Squad one- Applebottom. Squad two- Farron."

"Which one?" Serah asked confused.

"What?" Mr. Katzroy looked at her.

"This is my little sister." Lightning said.

"Oh yeah. Uh…Squad two-Claire Farron. Squard three-" he continued and walked away. After he was done assigning the roles he said, "Alright well we're running the mile today, so-" Almost everyone in the class groaned. "Oh be quiet. It's the principal that wants us to do it the first day of school. Better to get it out of the way anyway. Now come on, outside." The gym class marched to the track. Lightning went up to the starting line and swung her arms to loosen up. Hope lined up next to her and the rest of the class followed. Sazh blew the whistle and the class started running. Lightning took an early lead with Hope only a few feet behind. _This is how I'll prove myself to her! _He smiled.

Lagging behind was Snow and his friends. "Oh my God." Snow cried. "I'm not cut out for this! It's to hot."

"Shut up and run!" Sazh yelled. "Sorry, Farron beat you to it!" He and Snow both laughed.

Lightning pretended to not hear. She called back to Hope, "Try to keep up with me."Hope nodded and quickened his pace. He ran up next to her. His legs were starting to burn after holding that pace for the first two laps. "Half way." Lightning said reassuringly. Hope nodded, determination plain on his face. On the forth lap Hope couldn't take it anymore and slowed down. He watched Lightning continuing at the same pace without even looking back. _She's not even tired…_

Lightning was the first to finish with Hope only thirty seconds behind. Sazh pat him on the back. "Good job, kid." Hope stared at Lightning as she stretched. "We run the mile again in the spring. You'll get her next time." Sazh whispered to him. Hope looked up at his teacher.

"Uh…"

Snow crossed the line and fell over. "Whew! Glad that's over." he laughed. Several other students finished right behind him, including one of his friends. Serah finished a few minutes later and was about to go up to Snow, but she saw her sister glaring at her and went to her instead. Snow watched Serah walk up to her sister with her head down. _So glad she's graduating this year. _Snow thought. _Maybe then me and Serah can see some action! _He grinned and started to go over to the two sisters. Sazh, knowing how Lightning wanted Snow dead blew his whistle.

"Alright, back inside."

Hope stood up and plodded back into the school. By the time everyone was finished getting dressed the boy's locker room smelled like Axe. Hope coughed as he stumbled out. The girl's locker room wasn't any better. It smelled like ten didn't perfume scents. _At least the days over! _Hope thought happily, but then he realized there were still over a hundred days remaining. "Hey, Hope wait up!" Serah called. Hope stopped and smiled. "Wanna go get something to eat? Claire's going to get her car out of the shop, so she can pick us up."

Ok, sure." Hope couldn't believe how easy it was for him to make friends at this school. At his old school he didn't have any friends at all. He laughed as Serah pulled him along. They went to the conveyance store across the street.

"They have really good sandwiches here." Serah reassured Hope after seeing his expression. Serah spotted her boyfriend and ran up to him. "Snow!" she yelled and they hugged. Hope groaned. _So much for that…_ He thought.

"That crazy sister of yours isn't around is she?" Snow asked Serah.

That did it. "She's not crazy." Hope yelled.

Snow looked at him. "Oh-ho! If it isn't the show off. What's up?"

"I'm not the one that's the show off." Hope countered.

Serah slapped her forward. _No peace. Not ever. _Snow walked up to Hope and gave him a hard look. He then laughed and panted him on the back. "Sorry. I didn't realize you two were friends. You are friends…right?" Snow looked at him confused.

"Uh…" Hope didn't know what to say. He hoped Lightning saw him as a friend, and not just some stupid kid that needed her help.

"I see." Snow laughed. "Don't sweat it, kid, Light doesn't tend to let people know if she likes them or not. Well…sort of. If she doesn't like you, you'll know." Snow then rubbed his cheek.

"You…" Hope started laughing. "You got beat up by a girl?"

"Hey! Wait a minute! No wait…well…" Snow didn't know what to say.

Serah went up to them. "Almost everyday!" She and Hope burst out laughing. Snow frowned for a moment at the two and then laughed himself. "Come on! I'm hungry." Serah took off into the store. Snow patted Hope on the back again and they followed her inside.


	4. Breaking Point

"Oh my God this is a good sandwich!" Hope exclaimed with a mouth full of food. He took such a huge bite he started gagging. He took a big gulp of water and sighed in relief.

"Easy." Snow laughed. "Don't die on us now!" He gave Hope a light pat on the back. He saw someone new come into the store and looked up only to hide behind his hand. Lightning spotted him and glared. She stomped over and sat down in the booth next to Hope, across from her sister and Snow. She sat there glaring at him. Snow decided to break the silence. "Hey, Light…what's uh, what's up?"

"My car's fix, so you don't have to worry about driving Serah to school anymore."

"I don't mind…" Snow put in even though he knew it was useless.

"Don't worry about it." Lightning said flatly.

Hope looked down at the floor. _So much for having someone to sit with on the bus…_He thought. The idea of having to try to find someone to sit with made him shudder. "Sooooo" Serah began in an effort to have a normal conversation for once.

"We should probably get going." her sister cut her off. "Don't you have homework?"

"Uh…no?" Serah sighed. She knew arguing was useless. She got up and stood with her head down.

Lightning turned to Hope. "Do you need a ride home?" she smiled. Snow's eyes bugged out of his head at the sight of _Lightning _smiling. Serah was taken aback to. Hope smiled shyly and nodded his head. "I'll take you home." Lightning patted his shoulder. Snow's mouth hit the floor. _Who the heck is this kid? _Snow thought. _He must be a GOD or something for Light to give a shit about him. _Snow got up and followed them outside. He tried to say goodbye to Serah, but her insane older sister pushed her into the car and closed the door for her. Serah waved sadly at him. Snow smiled reassuringly and waved. Lightning saw it and shot mental fire at him. He sighed and went to his own car.

Once the three one them were in the car they pulled out. Hope knew asking the question that was bothering him was a bad idea, but he had to know. "So…uh, Light?"

"Yeah?" She looked in the rear view mirror to see him.

"What uh…what do you have against Snow? He seems ok…" He knew it was a bad idea to ask, but he wasn't expecting Lightning to react the way she did. She slammed on the brakes, the car behind her almost ran into her. She turned around a stared at Hope.

"You can walk home." She almost yelled. Hope stared at her, heartbroken.

"But…" Hope started.

"Save it!" Lightning cut him. She pulled over and unlocked the doors. "Get out." Hope stared at her in horror. He didn't even know what to think let alone say. The only thing running through his mind was that he couldn't believe how easily he just lost who he thought was his friend. He started shaking as he unbuckled.

Searh couldn't take it anymore. She slapped her sister across her face. Everyone in the car froze. Serah took a deep breath and started yelling. "Why are you such a bitch? You weren't like this when we were younger. What the heck happened? Why are you so mean? Hope's so nice, why would you kick him out! Everyone hates you, Claire! Do you realize that? Its not just me and Snow, _everyone _HATES you!" she screamed before getting out of the car, leaving her sister dumbfounded. "Come on, Hope. My house isn't far." Hope did as he was told, leaving Lightning alone in the car, staring at where her sister was just sitting.

After the two were gone she was still staring blankly at the empty seat. "She…she hates me?" She whispered to her self. She put the car in drive and went back onto the road, heading nowhere in particular.

They arrived at Serah's house only about fifteen minutes later. Neither of them spoke the whole way. They went inside and Serah announced that she was home and had a friend over. A woman with dark pink hair came down the steps. She smiled at the two. "Hello, I'm Serah's mom." She shook Hope's hand. "Nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Farron. I'm Hope." he forced a smile. He was still rattled about what happened with Lightning. _I hope she's okay…_ he thought.

As if reading his mind Mrs. Farron asked, "Where's Claire? Wasn't she supposed to pick you up?"

"Uhhh…" Serah didn't know what to say.

"Oh no." Mrs. Faroon rubbed her head. "What did she do now."

"She got mad at Hope because he doesn't disprove of Snow." Serah said. "Annnd…I yelled at her and walked home."

Her mom shook her head. "I'm going to have a talk with her when she comes home." She then smiled at the two. "Well! I went shopping today, so there's lots of snacks." Serah thanked her mom and lead Hope into the kitchen. They passed a wall with pictures on it. One of them was of Serah and Lightning when they were younger playing at the beach. They were burying who Hope figured was their dad, a man with blonde hair, in sand. All three of them were laughing. Hope smiled at the picture. Serah saw Hope looking at it.

"That was about ten years ago I think." she smiled sadly. "What a fun day." Hope returned her smile with his own in hope to cheer her up. It didn't work.

Later that day Hope got a ride home from Mrs. Farron. He thanked her and got out. He went into his house and his mom and dad were waiting for him.

"Where were you?" Nora asked him.

"I was with my friends." Hope replied happily. Friends. That sounded so nice to him. Both of his parents stared at each other.

"You made friends?" Nora yelled and hugged her son. "Oh, thank _God._ What are their names?"

"Uh…Serah. She's in a couple of my classes. She's really nice."

"Do you like her?" Nora asked hopefully.

"Mom! She has a boyfriend. Snow, he's alright. And Li-Claire. She's…well." Hope really didn't know how he felt about her anymore.

"Does she have a boyfriend?" Nora asked.

"I uh…no."

"Is she pretty?"

Hope's face grew bright red.

"You like her don't you?"

"What! Mom, she's a senior." His parents smiled at each other as their son's face grew more and more red.

"I uh….um…GAH!" Hope threw his hands up in the air and went to his room. His parents were still smiling at him.

"Our little Hope's in love!" Nora said to her husband. "Remember how he used to never like girls? He would always cling to me."

"I remember." her husband smiled. "But, she's a lot older than him. She probably just thinks he's some cute kid. I don't want him to get his heartbroken."

"Oh leave him alone! Its his first crush."

Serah wasn't in school the next day. Hope sensed something was wrong. He asked Vanille first period, but she said that she tried getting in touch with her, but she wasn't answering her phone. As the day went on Hope realized that neither Snow nor Lightning was in school either. Lightning's friends let him sit with them again. Al they did was talk about how none of them could get a hold of them. After school him and Vanille went to the Farron house. No one was home. Vanille tried calling Serah's cell phone again, but still no one picked up. She tried calling Snow instead and on the second attempt he picked up.

"Hello?" he sounded really worried.

"Hey, Snow." Vanille said in a tone that was too happy for the situation. "We were wondering if Serah's with you. We haven't been able to get in touch with her allll day!"

There was a pause before Snow answered. When he did he sounded distraught. "It's Light." Both Hope and Vanille stiffened and looked at each other. Vanille held the phone between her and Hope so he could hear to. Snow took a deep breath and said, "Light she's…she got in car accident. She's in a coma."


	5. Ice Cream

Snow picked up Hope and Vanille and took them to the hospital. They rushed in and saw Serah and her mother staring at the ground. The three sat down and Serah leaned on Snow's shoulder. He rocked her gently and whispered reassuring words. The doctor came over and cleared his throat. They all look up at him hopefully. "We rate comas on a scale from one to ten. The lower the number the less of a chance they're going to make it. She's uh…a five."

A waterfall of tears fell from Mrs. Farron's eyes. "So…so…" she tried to force out. "Its…its only a fifty-fifty chance she'll make it?" The doctor's eyes was all the answer she needed. Mrs. Farron screamed in agony and collapsed into her arms. Everyone sat there quietly as the mother cried. There was nothing they could say to help her.

The doctor looked at the others. "Witnesses say that she had appeared to be crying right before the wreck. They think that's how it happened in the first place. Did she ever have a disorder like depression? Was she suicidal?"

Serah shook her head and began to cry. Snow hugged her closely. The doctor walked away and Serah said to herself. "Its my fault…"

Snow looked at her seriously. "Don't say that."

"I said I hated her…Its my fault." she cried.

"No." Hope said. "It's…it's mine" His voice started to break. "If I hadn't asked that stupid question she wouldn't of gotten mad and-"

"Stop it." Snow yelled. "Now look, no one wanted this to happen! No one meant for this to happen. It was an accident, alright?" Serah nodded her head before burying her face into her boyfriend's side.

"Everything will work out. Just wait and see!" Vanille smiled. No one else shared her positivity.

Serah was in school the next day, but she was still extremely upset. Vanille kept trying to cheer her up, but all it did was make her feel worse. Word about what happened had spread like wildfire. Hope couldn't believe all the negative comments. He heard several people mutter "Serves her right." He had come close to punching so many people. _The next time someone says something they're gonna get it! _Hope thought. Not only were the comments disrespectful, but they hurt Serah when what she needed was comfort. She was still convinced it was her fault despite whatever Snow said to convince her otherwise. Hope was really starting to regret not liking Snow in the beginning because of what he heard. While he was kind of arrogant he was showing such dedication to Serah and her family that Hope couldn't help but admire him for that.

Even Mr. Dysley pitied Serah and gave her an extension in the ten page paper that was due in a week. Hope didn't get an extension. To make matters worse he couldn't even pick the topic. It had to be on existentialism. He didn't even know what that meant and when he asked the teacher just slapped him and told him to go to hell.

At lunch one of the teachers announced that they set up a table for people to sign a giant get well card. Only a few people signed it, Serah, Snow, Rosch, Rygdea, Vanille, a few teachers, and Hope. He felt the eyes of the others students watching him as he signed the card. _How could these people be so hateful? _Hope thought. After school that day Hope boarded the bus to go home. He sat by himself with his book bag next to him. "Hey kid." He heard behind him and turned. Two boys sitting behind him were snickering. "Where's your girl friend?" He both broke out laughing. Hope glared at them and turned back around. One of them poked him on the shoulder. Hope turned back around and the two idiots started laughing again. "We have a bet you see." One of them stared. "My friend here thinks she'll be dead in a week, but I say it'll only be two days."

"SHUT UP!" Hope screamed. Everyone on the bus stared at them and the two boys just started laughing again. Hope turned back around and sunk into his seat. Fortunately his stop was the first one. He hopped off and headed home. As he walked he heard laughter behind him. He looked and saw those same to kids. "Go away!" he yelled.

"Hey hey hey!" One of them said as they caught up to him. They started pushing Hope around. "What are you gonna do? Huh?"

Hope stumbled and fell over. He got up and tried to leave, but they cut him off. "Come on!" One of them said. Hope couldn't take it anymore. He punched one of them square in jaw. He fell over and got back up. "Is that so?" The kid yelled. It was at that moment Hope realized his mistake.

"Hope!" Nora ran to her son when he stumbled into the door. His face was covered in blood. "What happened?" Hope swayed and fell over.

He woke up in a hospital bed with his mom next to him. His dad must not have gotten out of work yet. He saw a doctor run past the door followed by Serah. He called after her. She came back and stopped at the door. "Hope? What happened? Never mind that. It's Claire! She spoke."

Hope leaped out of bed and ran out the door with Serah as his nurse chased him. Mrs. Farron was already in the room by the time Serah and Hope got there. She was holding Lightning's hand in hers as she stroked her daughter's hair gently. "What happened?" Hope panted as he came in. His nurse tried to take him back, but he shook her off. The doctor nodded to the nurse that it was ok. The nurse sighed and left the room.

They all circled around Lightning's bed. Mrs. Farron spoke to her quietly. "Sweety. If you can hear me… Come home. Please. We're all waiting for you." she started to cry. Lightning's eyeballs appeared to be moving under the lids. Everyone got closer. Slowly her eyes opened and she stared at the ceiling for a moment. No one in the room breathed. Lightning redirected her gaze to her mom and sister. "Serah…" she said quietly. "Do you…do you really hate me?"

"No." Serah cried and hugged her sister. "I love you, Claire!" Lightning slowly picked her hand up and put in on her sister's back to return the hug. "I love you so much." Serah said again as she continued to cry. After a few minutes the two sisters separated and Lightning turned her attention to they other people in the room.

"Hope, what happened? You look like hell." she asked him.

"I'm not the only one." he smiled. Lightning rolled her eyes and shook her head, smiling.

"Right well," the doctor started. "Hope you better go back to your room before Nurse Jen goes insane with worry."

Hope sighed and left the room. It wasn't his place anyway.

Lightning was released from the hospital a week later. Serah was a loud to stay home from school for the homecoming. That Friday Hope collected the two sisters' work and brought it over to their house. Serah answered the door and pulled him in. "Aw, Hope! You got our stuff. That's so nice!" She hugged him. "Claire!" she called and led Hope into the living room. Lightning was sitting on the couch with a bowl of ice cream on his lap. Serah took the work from Hope and put it somewhere.

Hope looked at Lightning nervously. _I wonder if she still hates me…_ Hope thought. Lightning smiled when she saw him. She slowly got up and went to him. She paused in front of him for a moment before throwing herself around him. Hope's face grew bright red as he returned the hug. "Hope, I'm sorry." she said sadly.

"It's…it's okay." Hope replied.

"I'm going to make it up to you."

"You don't ha-"

"I want to." She said seriously.

"Oh uh…" Hope smiled to himself. "Can I have some icecream?"

Lightning smiled. "Of course. Serah can you get that?"

"Sure." Serah laughed and went into the kitchen. Lightning sat back down on the couch and crossed her legs. She motioned for Hope to sit to. He sat next to her and the two looked at one another happily for a few moments.

"How's school?" Lightning asked to break the silence.

"Uh…okay I guess. I have a ten page paper due soon on existentialism."

"For Dysley?"

"Yeah."

Lightning scoffed. "What a bastard. That man wanted to died before he was even born. I wish he would just leave other people alone." she ate a spoonful of ice cream before continuing. "I can help you if you want."

"Uh." Hope didn't know what to say. "You sure?"

Lightning shrugged. "It's not like I have anything else to do."

Serah came back in with the ice cream snd handed it to Hope. "Thanks." he smiled.

"Your welcome. Now move over." Serah nudged Hope. He moved over and found that he was closer to Lightning. His face grew bright red.

"What?" she asked him and smiled. Hope just continued to blush. Serah realized what was happening. _Awww! How cute. _She thought.

Lightning had a feeling she knew what was happening to. "Hey Hope why don't you sleep over?"

Neither sister new it was possible for someone to get as red as Hope didn't. "Uh…ok sure." he replied in way that made it sound like he wasn't that interested while on the inside his heart skipped a beat when he was asked that. _I have friends! _He thought. _True friends….I wonder if she likes me? _Hope looked over at Lightning who was busy eating her ice cream.


	6. Heartbreak

**Chapter 6**

Hope woke the next morning to find that he had slumped over and that his head was resting on Lightning's side. He felt that her arm was hanging limply around his shoulder. He was worried what she would think when she woke up, but decided he didn't care and snuggled up closer to her. He smiled and closed his eyes. "What are you smiling about?" he heard someone ask, laughing. He jerked away when he saw Lightning was looking at him. His face turned a bright red as he tried to find something to say.

"Feeling better?" she asked him, concerned.

"Uhh….what?"

"You were really scared last night."

Realization of what happened last night dawned on him. They had watched a scary movie last night. He had jumped into Lightning's arms and hid his face in her side because he was scared. His face grew an even brighter red in embarrassment.

Serah came into the room with a box of cereal in one hand and three bowls and spoons in the other. "Good morning, kids. Sleep well?" She smiled slyly. She was obviously trying not to laugh. Hope glared at her and the two sister's exchanged smiles.

"I better be getting home." Hope said flatly in an effort to change the subject. He got up and started to leave. "Uh…could-could someone take me home, please?"

"I will." Lightning smiled. "Let me eat first." Her and Serah were trying not to laugh. They were getting a kick out of this. Hope frowned and sat back down on the couch, this time as far away from Lightning as he could get.

"Move over." Serah laughed and gave him a slight push. She sat down and Hope found himself on top of Lightning again.

"Uhh…" he didn't know what to say.

After they ate Lightning got up and went to go get changed. She was still in pajamas. After she was gone Serah lightly punched Hope on the shoulder. "You totally love her."

"What?" Hope laughed in order to cover up how much he was blushing. "I do not."

"No you do." Serah smiled. "Don't lie. I can tell."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Hope jumped when suddenly Lightning hugged him from behind. His face turned its reddest yet.

"Were you two talking about me?" Lightning smiled. She heard the whole thing. Hope suddenly felt sick. _She thinks I'm some stupid kid! I knew it! _He thought. He broke free of Lightning's embrace and got up.

"Let's just go." he walked out the door with Lightning in tow. They pulled up to Hope's house and his mother ran out the door and grabbed Hope before he could even fully exit the car. "Mom!" Hope yelled. He couldn't believe this was happening. In front of _Lightning!_

"Hope! Where were you? I was so worried I called the police, but they said I had to wait forty eight hours first, and you forgot your cell phone and- Who's this?" Nora cut off and stared at Lightning. She smiled at the senior and said. "You're Claire aren't you?" Lightning nodded. "Well!" Nora looked at her son before continuing. "Hope here has told us about you."

"Has he?" Lightning glanced at Hope.

"Oh yes! Thank you for driving him home."

"Of course. Anything for a friend."

At hearing those words Hope fainted.

Hope woke with an ice pack on his forehead with his mother hovering over him. "Feeling better, Sweety?" Nora asked quiety.

Hope took the ice pack off his head and sat up. "Why'd you have to embarrass me in front of Lightning like that?"

"Light….ning?" Nora asked confused.

"My nickname." Lightning said as she came into the room. Hope's mouth dropped and he rounded on his mother.

"She's still here!" he hissed.

"I wanted to make sure you were alright." Lightning smiled. Hope didn't know what to say. "I should probably get going." Lightning said and started to leave. A part of Hope wanted nothing more than for her to leave, but another part wanted nothing more than for her to stay. He watched her leave and his eyes stayed on the door until his mother brought him back.

"She's pretty."

"Mom!"

"What? She is and I can tell you think so to."

"Mom!"

"She's nice to."

"Mom!"

"We started talking while you were sleeping."

"Mom- Wait what? What did she say?"

"Oh, not much. I talked more than she did. She doesn't seem like much of a talker."

Hope felt like he was kicked in the stomach. "Mom. What did you say?"

"That she doesn't seem like a talker?"

"No. To Lightning. What did you say to _Lightning?" _

"Oh! Just that you're a good boy-"

"MOM!"

"-and that you had problems making friends at your old school."

"MOM!"

"And how grateful I am that she's your friend."

"MOM!"

"What?" Nora laughed. "It's true."

"What did she say?"

"Oh, not much."

"Did she say _anything_?"

"Oh that she agrees. She's happy to be your friend."

"R-Really?" Hope blushed.

"Now Hope." Nora said much more seriously. "Do you honestly love her?"

"No!"

"Hope."

"Yes…" Hope hugged his knees. "She's the most amazing person I ever met. She's just so-"

"Hope…" Nora cut him off. She looked at him sadly.

"What?"

"I hate to break your heart, but…she has a boyfriend."


	7. Wishful Thinking

**Chapter 7**

"I'd like to inform you all on how disappointed I am." Mr. Dysley started the class by saying. "All of you, but one, wrote terrible papers. I practically handed you all A's by giving you easy guidelines and yet you still couldn't produce anything halfway decent. Shameful." he then handed back the ten page papers the class had barely anytime to work on. Everyone was dumbfounded to see that Vanille was the only one in the class that didn't bomb.

"Since when do you do homework?" Serah asked, amazed.

"Ooooh I don't know! One day I just thought I might as well, so I sat down and I did it." Vanille laughed.

Hope winced at the sight of his grade.

"A thirty six?" Rygdea yelled as Hope's paper was passed around the table at lunch. "Shit and I thought I did bad in that class."

"Uh oh." Rosch sighed. "Here comes Princess."

Lightning came over and sat down, and patted Hope on the shoulder. "Hey. Is that your research paper? How'd you do?"

"He got a thirty six." Rygdea said bluntly. Lightning was taking a sip of water when he said that and almost spit it back out. She grabbed the paper and stared at it angrily.

"That bastard…" she whispered. "We stayed up all night for the past three days working on this! What does he mean _Waiting for Godot _isn't a prominent existentialist work? Its one of the most important ones. And how is _The Stranger _not an existentialist piece? That IS the main one. This man doesn't know shit." she said as she threw the paper down in disgust.

"Nah, he knows shit. He just doesn't want to admit that other people know shit." Rygdea sighed.

"Maybe I should talk to someone about it. Like the guidance counselor." Hope said.

"NO!" the three seniors yelled loud enough that several heads turned. "Don't do it." Rosch said. Last time a kid protested the grades Dysley gave him he didn't graduate."

"That doesn't mean it was Mr. Dysley." Hope protested.

"Yes it does." the three countered.

"He was a straight A student. Had perfect attendance and never once got into trouble." Lightning explained.

"Oh…" Hope sighed.

"Still, you should be happy with the grade you got. I failed the class. Hell, I got held back."

"You couldn't just go to summer school?" Hope asked.

"Well…its not like that was the _only _class I failed."

"I failed to." Lightning admitted. "I went to summer school. Fortunately the teachers that run it know how tough Dysley is. We just sat around and talked the whole time."

"Don't feel bad, Hope." Rygdea put in. "Everyone fails that class."

"Did anyone do well?" Rosch asked.

"Yeah. Vanille did really well."

"What?" the three seniors all yelled. "She doesn't even come to school half the time!" Rygdea exclaimed.

"I want to know what she wrote." Lightning mumbled.

"How'd she do that? She's NEVER here." Rosch sighed. "Apparently she's always with her dog Fang."

"Fang's a person." Lightning smiled. "I've met her."

"Wait. It's a _girl? _Is she hot?" Rosch asked.

"I'd do her." Rygdea said bluntly.

Lightning almost choked on her food. "Ry! Not in front of Hope."

"Hey he's a man. We can talk about sex in front of him if we want." Rygdea laughed. "How do we know he hasn't done anyone already?"

"Uh…" Hope blushed and looked at Lightning out of the corner of his eye and laughed uneasily.

"EXCUSE ME!" One of the teachers yelled into the microphone to silence the lunchroom. "Now as you all know Homecoming is next week. The dance will be on that Thursday, so if you have any outstanding obligations be sure to turn them in as soon as possible, or you won't be able to get a ticket. Also, voting for Homecoming King and Queen will be today during last period."

"Alright now I'm passing out a piece of paper to write down who you want to nominate for king and queen." Hope teacher said as she passed out the slips.

He stared at it for a few moments. He only knows a few seniors. He looked around the room and saw that everyone in the class was faced with the same problem. He shrugged and wrote down the first two names that popped into his head. King- Yaag Rosch, Queen- Claire Farron.

Serah poked him in the back and he turned around. "Who'd you vote for?" she asked.

"Lightning and Rosch."

Serah laughed. "Me too! I hope they don't hate us."

"Yeah." Hope laughed. "Hey uh…you're going to the dance right?"

"Yeah. Me and Snow are going. Why are you? We could give you a ride."

"Oh uh…I don't know. Who else is going?"

"Well Vanille. And Rosch and Rgydea- you're friends with them right?"

"Kinda."

"I _think _Claire's going."

Hope got excited. "Is she going with anyone?"

"Just her friends I guess."

"What about her boyfriend?"

"What?" Serah laughed. "She doesn't have a boyfriend!"

"Oh!" Hope didn't know what to say. "I uh…heard that she did. Must have been a different Claire."

"Probably." Serah smiled despite being confused.

Hope turned back around in his seat. _She lied…_Hope thought. _Or…maybe Mom lied? Maybe she doesn't want me to date an older girl? I know! I'll ask Lightning to the dance. _Hope smiled.

He was able to find her after school. She was at her locker put books she didn't need away. He nervously went up to her. "Hi." he forced out.

She looked at him and smiled. "Hi."

"Um…soooo…."

"What's up?"

"The dance is next week."

"Yeah it is." _Oh no. _Lightning thought.

"Are you going?"

"I'm planning on it."

"Do you…want to go with…with me?" Hope looked down at the ground.

"Well," she started. _Well shit. _She thought. _How do I put this? _"You mean you want me to give you a ride? I can do that."

"No." Hope almost yelled. He felt like he was ready to cry. "I mean…you know…like a date."

_Shit. _Lightning thought. "Um…Hope that's sweet of you to ask but-"

"But?" Hope looked up at her teary eyed. "You really do have a boyfriend? Serah said you didn't so I thought…"

Lightning sighed. "No I don't have a boyfriend."

"Then why'd you say you did?" Hope cried.

"Because I didn't want to hurt your feelings, but that was wrong. I should have been honest with you. You deserve it." She sighed and looked away for a moment. "I like you Hope, but…I see you more as my little brother. Sorry."

Hope backed away. "Yeah. I…get it." tears started to roll down his cheek.

"I'm so sorry Hope. I just-"

"Save it." Hope turned and walked away. Lightning called after him and started to follow. He just started running, ignoring her desperate cries to come back. Tears flowing freely.


	8. Eight Ball

** Sorry about the wait. I know I usually don't make you wait much in between chapters. I started getting ideas for a Final Fantasy XIII-2 story and I've been planning it out. I just finished working out the plot actually. I'm gonna focus on finishing this story, but I'd thought you'd like to know what I've been doing and also to expect a new story soon-ish to. I'm really excited to share it with all of you since I think it's a cool idea and hopefully you will think so to. But first, on to the new chapter.**

**Chapter 8**

Nora knocked on her son's door and asked to come in. He came home from school almost an hour ago and went right to his room, tears in his eyes. He had crawled under the covers of his bed and sobbed. As much as he tried to stop the tears kept falling. He couldn't believe himself. How could he be so weak and pathetic? What made him think he had a chance anyway? Why would Lightning ever go out with a stupid kid like him? His mother's knocking finally caught his attention. "Go away." he yelled.

"Hope what happened?"

"Nothing. Just go away."

"Did you get into a fight again?"

"No! Go away."

Nora sighed and was about to ask again when the phone rang. She picked up the phone and said hello.

"Uh, is Hope there? It's Lightning."

"Oh! Yes he is, hold on." Nora took the phone and knocked on her son's door. "Hope? Its your friend Lightning."

Hope jumped out of bed and opened the door enough to stick his hand through. He grabbed the phone before slamming the door shut again and locking it. He sat back down on his bed and held the phone up to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hope! Thank goodness I was worried about you." Lightning said on the other end.

"What do you want?"

"I wanted to make sure you were alright. You were really upset.  
"All thanks to you."

"I'm sorry, Hope! I mean it."

"Save it."

"What do you want from me?"

"Why don't you like me?"

Lightning sighed. "I told you Hope. I do like you, but I see you more like my brother."

"Its cause I'm a lot younger isn't it?"

"What? No of course not. It's just-"

"Its just what?"

"I don't know."

Hope hung up the phone.

Hope had decided that he would never speak to Lightning again. That all changed once he realized he had no one else to sit with at lunch. Lightning and her friends were already there. Hope sat down without a word. He prayed the others didn't know and judging by the way they acted Lightning hadn't told them. "So." Rygdea started. "The dance is this weekend. You guys excited?" No one said anything. "You should be because No Response is gonna be there!" Rosch and Lightning stared at him in disbelief.

"You lie." Rosch said.

"Swear to God. No Response! I'm not kidding."

"Who's that?" Hope asked.

"It's a local band. They're _huge _around here. Probably gonna make it big. They've been in a couple magazines." Rosch explained.

"Cool." Hope said. "What kind of music do they play?"

"Classic rock meets metalcore is the easiest way to explain it." Rosch answered.

"That sounds...interesting."

"Don't worry, you'll like them."

The night of the dance came and Hope waited by the door to get picked up. He wasn't sure who was going to pick him up since everyone offered. He was waiting to be surprised. There was a knock on the door and he opened it. Standing before him was of course Lightning. He would have been more upset to see her if she had wore something else. He started with his mouth slightly open at her brown short shorts and her violet vest that only went down to her belly button. "H-Hi…" Hope started drooling.

"What are you doing?" Lightning asked him confused. "Come on." she put her arm around him and they left the house.

Once they were in the car Hope started getting angry again. "Why'd _you _have to pick me up?"

"I want to talk to you." Lightning said, turning serious. "I want to say that I'm sorry about what happened. I shouldn't have encouraged you. I just thought you were being sweet. I didn't realize how you really felt."

"I don't love you!" Hope yelled.

"I never said you did." Lightning smiled softly. "But still…it's my fault." she pretended to not here him when he started crying. She saw out of the corner of her eye that he turned away in hopes she wouldn't see.

The arrived at the school a few minutes later. "You ok?" Lightning asked. "We don't have to go in right away."

Hope looked at the ground and sniffed.

"We don't have to go at all if you don't want to." she put in. "Dances aren't much fun anyway."

"No…I want to go. I wanna see that band, but..."

"Look. It's seven o'clock. The dance is over at eleven. We can come back later if you're not ready."

"Where can we go?"

"Do you no how to shoot pool?"

Cigarette smoke filled the pool hall. Hope sat timidly on a stool while Lightning lined the balls up. "Uh….Lightning?" he asked nervously.

"Call me Light." she responded absentmindedly. She was concentrating on her shot. She hit the cue ball to break. It made a loud crack when it hit the other balls. Hope jumped in his seat.

"Uh….Light? Are you sure we're aloud in here?" he glanced at all the other people in the hall. They were all a lot older than them.

"Of course we are. I know the owner." Lightning replied. Right as she said that an older man came over laughing.

"Well if it isn't Miss Farron! Good to see you and who's this gentleman?" he asked.

"Sir, this is Hope. Hope, this is Mr. Amodar." she answered.

"Uh…Hi." Hope said. Amodar ignored him.

"So, Farron, you teaching him how to play? Don't you need to be good to be a teacher? You still need more practice!"

"You say that all the time." Lightning answered.

"I say it because it's true. If you need me let me know."

"Thanks."

Amodar walked away and Lightning called Hope over. "Come here. Pay attention to where I put my hands." she said. After demonstrating she handed the stick to him. "Now you." He barely had a chance to hold it before she stopped him. "No. Like this." she put his hands in the correct spot before putting her hands on top of his. It didn't take long for Hope to realize his ace was very close to her chest. He watched her necklace swing back and forth between her-

"Pay attention, Hope." Lightning called to him. "Now shoot." Hope, with Lightning's help, managed to pocket a striped ball. "Alright then. You're stripes. I'm solids. Let's go."


	9. No Response

**Chapter 9**

They arrived at the dance an hour later. They didn't stay at the pool hall long. Hope was feeling better and wanted to go to the dance in time to see that band everyone likes. They went up to doors and should their tickets to the teacher standing there menacingly. He eyed them and their tickets angrily before letting them in. Once they were inside Hope blurted out "What was his problem?"

"Ignore it. The school doesn't trust the students. All the teachers have it in their heads that we're drunk idiots looking to cause trouble." Lightning answered.

"Isn't that true?" Hope smirked.

"For the most part." Lightning smiled. They entered the gym and saw that the band's equipment was being set up. They scanned the room and saw Snow waving at them.

"Do we have to go over there?" Hope sighed. He wasn't in the mood for Snow's positivity.

"Yes we do." Lightning patted him on the back and led him over. Snow made room for them to sit down and the table.

"Serah's taking a dump right now. She'll be over in few."

"Always charming Snow." Lightning rolled her eyes.

"That's me!" Snow pumped his fist into the air. Lightning smiled and shook her head. Hope didn't say anything. Rosch and Rygdea came over and sat down to.

"Hey, Light. How's it going?" Rosch asked. "Good to see you to, Hope."

After a few minutes Serah came over. "Claire!" she smiled and hugged her sister. "I'm glad you came! Hey guys." She said to Lightning's friends. They all say down and started picking at the bowl of pretzels in the middle of the table. Hope felt out of place. The others were all talking about what songs they hope No Response plays. He had no idea what to say. Finally the music stopped and everyone turned to the stage. The members of the band walked up and everyone cheered.

"Thank you!" the front man yelled into the mic. "We are No Response!" he smiled as the crowd cheered. "You know it's been awhile since we've performed live. You guys are in for a treat!"

The crowd of students screamed as the band went into their most popular song. Snow grabbed Serah and they ran onto the dance floor. Hope wasn't sure if he liked the music. He wasn't really listening. He was looking at Lightning. He didn't realize how big the smile on his face was getting.

"Having fun?" Rosch yelled over the music.

This snapped Hope out of it. "Uh…yeah!"

"Aren't they great?" Rygdea asked.

"Oh uh." Hope hadn't been listening. "Yeah! I wish I could play like that." he pointed to the bass player without much thought.

"I can teach you." Lightning said.

"What?" Hope couldn't hear.

"I can teach you!" she said louder and smiled.

Hope couldn't believe his ears. He was going to get lessons from Lightning. It didn't matter what it was for.

"You play bass?" Rygdea asked. "Since when?"

"Since ten years ago."

"WHAT! What about that time I asked you if you wanted to be in my band and you said you didn't play an instrument?"

"I lied." Lightning smirked. The three friends continued talking, but Hope didn't hear a word of it.

Hope couldn't take his eyes off her. The way her hair moved. Pink is such a nice color. So soft, so pleasant. Her eyes were beautiful blue. Like crystal. She was as beautiful as a crystal. He didn't even realize what he had done next. He grabbed her and kissed her on the lips. Lightning's eyes widened and she pulled herself off of him before slapping him across the face. He landed on the ground hard. Tears already started to well up.

Rosch and Rygdea stared at him with their mouths open. Lightning leaned back in her seat and panted, staring at Hope in terror. After a few moments of no one moving Lightning's scared expression turned into anger. "A word, Hope." she grabbed him and dragged him into the hallway where no one was around. She let go of him and immediately started yelling.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I'm sorry!" Hope cried. "I don't know what came over me."

"Save it." Lightning snapped. "Look, I'm sorry I don't feel that way about you, but that shit you pulled is just-"

"I said I'm sorry!" Hope yelled.

Lightning planted her hands on her hips and started walking away. "I can't be near you anymore."

"What?"

"Leave me alone." she said and left.

Hope fell to the ground and cried. Serah came running up to him and pulled him into a hug. "Oh, God, Hope what happened? Claire's friends wouldn't say anything."

"I hate her!" Hope screamed as he cried. Serah's grip around him tightened. "I HATE HER!" Serah started rocking him gently.

"It's alright, Hope. Shh…it's alright."

Snow came out, but didn't get close. He wasn't sure if Hope would want to talk to him. Mr. Katzroy, the gym teacher, came out to see what was wrong. Snow told him what he knew. Sazh nodded and went up to Hope and sat down next to him. Serah took that as a signal to leave and went back into the gym with Snow.

"So, what happened." Sazh asked calmly.

"She hates me." Hope cried.

"What did you do?"

"I…I kissed her." Hope hugged his knees.

"Is this your girlfriend we're talking about?"

Hope shook his head. "No, but I love her-"

"Well that's the problem!" Sazh exclaimed. "You can't go kissing someone if they don't want you to."

"I don't know what came over me. It's not fair! I love her, but…"

"Love isn't fair. You never know when it will hit, but…you can't force it onto someone else."

"I know…" Hope sighed.

"Give it time. Keep your distance for a few days. Then apologize. However, if she's still mad then leave her alone and let her come to you. Think you can do that?"

Hope wasn't sure if he could. "I hope so." He stood up and his teacher followed.

"Alright well…why don't you go back in there? Have some fun. Take your mind off of it."

"Yes, Sir."


	10. Thunder

**Chapter 10**

"He did what?" Snow asked. He was on the phone with Serah.

"Yeah. He kissed her. Right on the lips." Serah answered.

"Hot damn! I didn't know the kid had it in him." he laughed.

"No. Its bad, Snow. Claire won't stop yelling about it."

"Oh. Poor Hope. Is he okay?"

"I haven't heard from him. I'm worried about him."

"Don't be." Snow said reassuringly. "He's a tough kid. He'll bounce back. Besides the pep rally is tomorrow right? I'm sure that will cheer him up."

"Yeah…I hope so." Serah wasn't as optimistic. After awhile she hung up and went to find her sister. She was in the basement running on the treadmill. "Honestly, Sis. Go to bed, it's after midnight and we have school tomorrow."

"Not now." Lightning snapped back.

"Claire-"

"That's not my name!" Lightning yelled. She stopped the treadmill and got off.

"Yes it is!" Serah cried. They had had this argument before. "Claire!"

"Don't call me that!" she pushed her sister back. Serah lost her balance and landed on the floor. Tears started to well up in Serah's eyes.

"What happened to you?" she asked her older sister as she stood back up. Lightning looked away. "Is it because Dad-"

"No!" Lightning yelled without making eye contact.

Serah went up to her sister and hugged her. Lightning didn't return the hug. "Its not your fault."

"I never said it was." Lightning said harshly.

Serah thought for a moment. "It's because he was the one that wanted to name you Claire. Isn't it?" When Lightning didn't respond Serah looked up and saw that her older sister was crying.

Hope snuck out of his house that night. He needed to get some fresh air. He walked down the street to the playground. He sat on a swing and sighed. "What am I going to do?" he started to swing, but stopped when he heard people laughing. It sounded like they were coming closer. He hopped of the swing and saw Snow and his 'team' stumbling toward him.

"Heey hey, Hope!" Snow sputtered. "What's you doing ou' here. Itsh dar." he laughed as if he had made a joke. He went up to Hope and patted him on the back. "Good, boy." he said.

"Get off of me!" Hope yelled and backed away.

"Ooh ho! Woo hoo! Tough guy. Tough like Lightning….and thunder. Get it?" he turned to his friends. "Lightning and Thunder! Imma call you Thunder." him and his friends laughed. One of them even fell over. "What you? Do…swings? Swings are for girls. Are you a girl?" Snow asked Hope as he stumbled more.

Hope tried to leave, but Snow ran in front of him. "Where you go? I wanna talk!"

"Get away from me!" Hope yelled and pushed the other man away. Snow glared at him.

"Hey! No fun with you. Come here. I'll show…yoou."

Hope then realized his mistake and tried to run away. He was easily a lot faster than Snow and his friends even when they were sober, but he was tired and wasn't paying attention to where he was going. He tripped on a sewer drain and fell. Snow caught up to him and picked him up. "Hey! Thunder." He laughed and threw him onto the ground. Snow and his friends surrounded him.

Hope dragged himself into his house and crawled into bed. His mom woke him up the next morning and screamed when she saw him. There was blood on his sheets. Hope ached all over. His arm felt like it was on fire and he could barely open his one eye from all the blood. Nora dragged him out of bed and into the bathroom to clean off his wounds. "What happened to you?" she cried.

"Snow." Hope moaned. He wanted to cry, but it hurt too much. After he was cleaned up Nora brought him to the hospital. It turned out that his arm was broken. Fortunately he wasn't seriously injured anywhere else. He just had minor cuts and bruises. He just wished he didn't have a black eye. By the time he arrived at school the pep rally had already started. He entered the gym and saw Serah waving at him. He had sent her a text saying he was coming and to save him a seat. He went up to her and at the sight of his arm in a sling she gasped.

"Snow told me what happened. He was really upset about it. Are you ok?" she asked him.

Hope just nodded and sat down. The next event was the tug of war. Five students from each grade were called down. Snow was called for the juniors. He jumped down and high fived people on the way. He didn't seem _that_ upset. Lightning was called for the seniors, but she didn't go down. Hope and Serah scanned the sea of seniors looking for her long light pink hair, but they didn't see her. Serah bit her lip. "I had a feeling she was going to skip today." she said. Hope looked at her sadly. "No! Its not you." Serah insured him. "She said something about going to visit our dad, but I didn't think she was serious. I hope she's all right. Our dad, he's…"

Lightning pulled up to the address her dad was supposed to be staying and got out. She walked up to the door and after taking a deep breath knocked on the door. A woman she didn't recognize answered the door. "Oh, uh…" Lightning double-checked the address. "Does Mathew Farron live here?"

"Who? Oh him. Nah, he got kicked out last week."

"Oh… Do you know where he's staying?"

"Staying? The man ain't staying anywhere but the street."

Lightning didn't know what to say at these words. The woman seemed to realize who Lightning was and sighed. "You might be able to find him and Sid's. He would always go there. However, _I'd _rather you didn't go. Ain't no place for a young girl."

"I'll be fine. Thanks." Lightning walked away and got back in the car. Sid's is a strip club.


	11. Claire

**Chapter 11**

Sid's smelled like smoke. Lightning was hit by the smell from the moment she opened the door. She scanned the room and instantly spotted her father sipping a beer. There was a woman on top of him. She went over to him and stood in front of him, glaring. She planted her hands on her hips and waited for him to notice. Her father was right in the middle of taking another drink when he noticed her. His eyes widened and he spit out the alcohol. "Claire?" he yelled. He pushed the woman off of him who got up and glared at him and she walked away. Her father, Matt, wiped the beer from his chin.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

Lightning continued to glare at him. Her chest heaved as she tried to hold back her anger. After a few seconds she couldn't take it anymore and punched her father in the face. He fell of his chair and landed on the ground. He stood up and sat back down, rubbing his cheek. "I guess I deserve that." he muttered.

"You think?" Lightning sneered.

"What are you doing here, Claire?"

"That's not my name!" she yelled back.

"What?" Matt looked confused.

"My name is Lightning." she said sternly.

"Lightning?" he asked. "Why Ligh- Oh." he knew why she picked that name. "Sweet heart, you don't have to change your name because of me."

"Shut up!" she yelled. Tears started to well up.

"Why are you here?" he asked again. "If you're not here to let me talk then I suppose there's something you want to say to me. So say it. I deserve it."

It was at that moment Lightning realized she didn't _know _why she was there. She thought she was going to confront her dad, but what was there to say? Matt could see in her eyes that she didn't know what to say. "Claire…" he whispered.

"That's not my name." Lightning cried, tears now following down her cheeks.

Matt got up and looked at her in the eyes. They had the same crystal blue eyes. He pulled her into a hug and stroked her hair gently like he did when she was little. "I always loved you, Claire, even if I didn't always love your mother. I always loved you and Serah. Do you know why I picked the name Claire?"

"No." Lightning whispered.

"It means bright, but not bright like lightning. Bright as in a beautiful mind, which is what you have. You're beautiful, Claire. Inside and out. You don't have to hate yourself because of me."

"I know. Its just-" she started sobbing again.

"Shh. It's alright. I understand." Matt whispered.

"Dad?"

"Hm?" they pulled apart. They looked at each other in the eyes.

"I love you." Lightning said softly. This time it was Matt's turn to cry. He pulled her back into a hug and cried.

Hope arrived at the homecoming game with Serah and Snow. There was already a large amount of people. They found seats toward the top and sat down. The game had already started, but it was only a few minutes in. Snow had painted his face and chest the school colors. He stood up and started cheering. Hope laughed at how excited Snow was. He stood up to and cheered with his good hand. Serah sat in the middle happily. Snow was the only one of them that really cared about football, but this was homecoming. They could be excited for their school.

Snow had apologized to Hope for hurting him while he was drunk. He even fixed the television in Hope's room and bought him a new game for his PlayStation. Hope forgave him much to Snow's surprise on the condition that Snow will stop drinking. Snow had heaved a sigh and compromised that he wouldn't drink _much._

The homecoming king and queen would be announced at half time. Serah scanned the crowd for Lightning, but she couldn't find her. Rosch and all the nominees were lining up by the entrance to the field. Lightning came running up to him and stood in line next to him. Music played and they walked out onto the field. The winners were announced and neither Rosch nor Lightning won. In the stands Hope, Snow, and Serah sat angrily and complained about who did win; the captain of the football team and his girlfriend. Of course. After that the players retook the field and the game continued. The game ended with their school, Gran High, losing 37-0. Nothing out of the ordinary.

After the game Snow and Hope went over to Serah's house. Her mom was home and came running up to them as soon as they walked in the door. "Where's Claire?" she asked anxiously.

"She's not home yet?" Serah asked.

"She hasn't been home all day! The school called asking where she was."

"Oh." Serah figured everything was okay since she was at the game. "Well….we saw her at the game."

"You did?"

"Yeah. Just briefly, but it was her. She looked okay." Hope put in. Mrs. Farron gave a sigh of relief. At that moment Light came in looking happy. Well, her definition of happy. She wasn't smiling, but she seemed relaxed. Her mother ran up to her.

"Where have you been?" she cried.

"With Dad." Light replied very matter of fact.

Everyone in the room stared at her. Serah spoke first. "Dad? He's okay then."

Lightning wasn't sure if she should day that he was kicked out of his house. "Yeah he's fine."

"You're okay to then?" Serah asked.

"Yeah." Light brushed past Hope and went to her room.

Later that night Serah poked her head into her sister's room. She was sitting at her desk reading a textbook. "Um…Claire?"

"Hm?"

"Can I come in? I want to talk to you."

"Course." Light closed the book and sat down on her bed. Serah came in and sat next to her.

"I…I called Dad today. It was the first time I had spoken to him in years. He seemed happy."

"Yeah."

"What did you say to him?"

Light ignored the question. "Did I ever tell you why I chose Lightning as my name?"

"Now that you mention it…no."

"When Dad was a kid he was scared of lightning."


	12. Thanks Mom

**Chapter 12**

Mr. Dysley paced up and down the front of the room shaking his head. I am very disappointed in all of you. You had a full weak to write a fifteen-page paper on the Thirty Years War. Do you have any idea how generous I was? And yet, yet only two of you received A's." He passed back the papers. Hope crossed his fingers that he was one of those people.

He rubbed his newly healed arm gently. He took a deep breath as Mr. Dysley put his paper on his desk. He turned the thick packet over and almost fainted. He got an A.

After completely bombing the first paper he went to Vanille, the one who got an A and asked to see her paper. It was complete nonsense. She didn't even talk about the assigned topic for two straight pages. It then occurred to Hope that if he was to pass the class he would have to bull shit the class. He couldn't be any happier.

Mr. Dysley went back to the front of the room and sighed. "I hope you will all learn to do better since once you all start applying to colleges I'm going to send the paper you received the highest grade on to those colleges."

Hope nearly flew out of his seat. He caught himself and sat back up, but not before the old man saw him. "Yes, Hope, you have something to say."

"Oh…uh, no."

"Do you think earning an A warrants special treatment? It doesn't. Learn how to control yourself."

Hope sunk in his seat as all the other students glared at him. At the end of class Serah poked him in the back. He turned to look at her. "What's up?" he smiled.

"Claire wants to talk to you after school." she said quietly. Hope's heart sank.

At the end of the day he went to the senior wing. He walked up to Lightning with his head down. "H-hi, Light."

"There you are." she didn't sound to happy, but she didn't sound to upset either.

"You wanted to see me?"

"Don't sound so formal." Lightning smiled. "Hey." she picked Hope's chin up. "Your mom signed you up for karate. She says you need to learn how to defend yourself."

"Oh, come on!" Hope threw his hands into the air.

"She asked me to take you. We're going there now. Come on." she started walking away. Hope ran to catch up to her.

"You don't have to take me. I don't want to bother you."

"Its no problem. I'm heading there now anyway."

"You signing up to?"

"I have a black belt." Lightning said sharply.

"Oh." Hope looked down at the ground.

The dojo was only a few minutes away. They walked in and Lightning showed him where to change. Hope came out a few minutes later and looked down at himself. He felt stupid in all white. Like he belonged in a mental hospital. Lightning went up to him and led him to the center of the floor. She had her hair up in a bun. She looked pretty with her hair up. Hope shook his head. He needed to focus. It turned out that the sensei was the man that owned the pool hall, Mr. Amador. He gave Lightning a pat on the shoulder before he started the class.

Hope couldn't have had a worse time. He didn't know what he was doing. Nothing he did was right and he fell over multiple times. After class he stomped out of the dojo and waited by Lightning's car. She came out a few minutes later and unlocked the doors. Hope climbed in and stared at the ground.

"I'm never going back." Hope pouted.

"Yes you are." Lightning replied flatly. "It costs a lot of money. You're mother wouldn't be happy if you stopped after one day."

"But I hate it!" Hope cried.

"You only had one class. You can't judge something that quickly."

Hope slammed his fist down. "Why can't people just let me be me? Let me do what I want!" he yelled.

Lightning pulled over to the side of the road. She turned off the car and gave Hope a hard stare. "Because you are immature and beg people for help." she said flatly. "Learn how to take care of yourself and people will give you more freedom."

Hope sneered. "What do you know?"

Lightning rolled her eyes and turned the keys. The car started back up and they continued. They drove right past Hope's house. "Eh…" Hope pointed out the window.

"We need to talk." Lightning answered. She didn't say anything else before pulling into her driveway a few minutes later. They got out and went inside. Lightning led Hope to her room.

It was very clean and tidy. Her desk was clear except for a few textbooks in a neat pile. There were a few posters on the wall, one of which Hope recognized as the band, No Response. By her bedside was her bass guitar. Hope looked at it in awe. It looked like it had just been polished. The posters and bass were the only indictors a teenage lived in this room. Everything else, from the cleanness, to the color choice of the walls and furniture, made it look like the room belonged to someone much older.

Lightning sat down on her bed. Hope sat down across from her. He looked at her uneasily. "What?" she asked.

"Well….what do you need to say?"

Lightning looked down for a moment before making eye contact again. "Look. I know you're still upset about what happened at the dance."

"No I'm not!" Hope said quickly.

Lightning smiled and shook her head. "Its alright Hope, but-hey." Lightning picked Hope's chin up. "Look at me." she took his hands in hers. "I care about you Hope, but I want us to be friends."

"Just friends?" Hope asked sadly.

"Yeah."

"Ok. I get it." Hope forced a small smile.

Before anyone could say anything else Serah came bursting into the room. "I thought I heard your voice Hope! Wanna stay for dinner? Since you're here and all."

"Uh…" Hope glanced at Lightning.

"You should stay. We'd be happy to have you."

Hope smiled for real this time. "Okay. Thanks. What are we having?"


	13. Lucky Number 13

**Chapter 13**

Mrs. Farron made pasta for dinner. They all took plates and sat around the table. Hope was starving after practice, but he didn't want to take so much he looked like a pig, so he sat sunk in his seat eating his modest amount of pasta and chicken. The three students talked about Homecoming and what the rest of the year will be like while Mrs. Farron listened intently.

"I can't believe you're in high school." Lightning patted her sister's shoulder. "You grew up so fast."

"Look who's talking!" Serah laughed. "You're graduating!"

"I know, but. Still, my little sis all grown up. I never thought I'd see the day."

"My parents say the same the about me." Hope put it. "They keep calling up all our relatives and talk about how I'm a freshman."

"That's ridiculous." Serah laughed. Mrs. Farron cleared her throat and blushed. "What?" Serah turned to her mom. "You do that to?" she asked surprised and Mrs. Farron nodded. The three students looked at one another and laughed.

Serah and Hope then told them about Mr. Dysley's insane grading policy and how he sends each students' highest grade to the colleges they apply at. Lightning almost choked on her food when she heard that. "I'm amazed I got in anywhere. My highest grade was a fifty six."

"It must have been pretty good then." Hope laughed and the others followed.

After dinner Lightning drove Hope back to his house. Almost immediately after he walked in the door his cell phone rang. He recognized the number as Vanille's and said hello.

"Heeeello! Anyone there?"

"Hey, Vanille, what's up?" he asked as he headed to his room. He lay down on his bed with the phone to his ear.

"I was wondering what you were doing tomorrow."

"Oh. Uh….nothing. Not that I know of anyway."

"I like ice cream!"

"Excuse me?" Hope didn't know what to say.

"Tomorrow is supposed to be hot. Let's get some ice cream. I know of a really great place."

"Okay, sure." They said goodbye and hung up. Hope put his phone aside and looked at the posters on his ceiling. He never really spent time with Vanille. He was her friend more because she was also Serah's friend. This would be the first time they hung out just the two of them. Maybe she wanted to be better friends with him?

At around one o'clock Hope arrived at the ice cream parlor. Vanille wasn't there let. He wasn't surprised since she's never on time for anything. He sat down on a nearby bench and waited.

After a few minutes he heard his name. He looked and saw Lightning and Rosch walking toward him. He got up as they got close. "Hi, Hope." Lightning smiled.

"Hey. How are you guys?" Hope asked.

"Alright." Rosch answered. "So I hear you're going on a date."

"What?" Hope was taken aback. "Who told you that?"

Rosch pointed to Lightning who chuckled. "Serah told me."

"Its not a date!" Hope almost yelled. "We're just getting some ice cream."

Rosch and Lightning exchanged smirks. "Sure. Keep telling yourself that." Rosch laughed. Hope face got bright red. "Let me give you some advice." Rosch started. "Make the first move. Don't wait for her. Girls _never _make the first move. They always wait for you and if you don't move then they assume you are gay. Since they idea of you just not being interested will never cross their mind."

Hope didn't know what to say. "Uh…"

"I never would have expected you to say that, Rosch." Lightning was surprised. It's usually Rygdea that says things like that. She was also trying hard not to laugh. Hope couldn't have felt more defenseless.

"This may seem random, Hope, but its something I've been wanting to tell you." Lightning said.

Hope looked at her confused. He thought maybe it would be more about how he can't go around kissing people, but she seemed in to good a mood to bring that up. Even as a joke. They had kind of silently agreed to never talk about it again. Which he was more than fine with. "Thirteen is my lucky number." she said rather suddenly.

"Ok?" Hope didn't know where this was going. It wasn't like Lightning to randomly state things about herself. That was Vanille's job.

"I know it sounds weird since its supposed to be unlucky, but its given me some luck."

"Like what?" Hope still had no idea where this was going.

"Well. Serah was born on the thirteenth. I met Mr. Amodar when I was thirteen. I was number thirteen the year my softball team won second. That was when I was younger."

Hope still had no idea where this was going, but he liked seeing Lightning open up and talk about herself. Maybe that was the point?

"The point is is that sometimes things might seem negative, like the number thirteen, but if you look hard enough you can find the good in any bad situation. You may even find what was there all along. Waiting for you to notice."

"Oh. Well thanks, Light. I'll keep that in mind."

Vanille appeared behind him and poked him on the shoulder. Hope turned and smiled. "Hey, Vanille. All ready to go?"

"Yup. Come on. I already know what flavor I want.

As Hope was dragged away Rosch turned to Lightning. "You really care about that kid, huh. That's nice of you."

"Yeah. I don't know why I felt the need to start helping him on the first day of school, but I'm glad I did."

"You think he'll be ok? What with you graduating and all?"

"He'll be fine. He doesn't need me anyway. I suspect he already knows that."

"You sure?" Rosch smirked.

Lightning turned to her friend. "We'll see." she smiled.

As Hope was being dragged away he looked back at his other friends. Lightning was smiling at him like an older sister would to her little brother. And that was good enough for him.

**The End**


End file.
